What is Duet Group and tell us about your role there?
The Duet Group provides musical instruments to schools, academies, music hubs and universities, as well as other institutions and individuals. As director of education and commercial services, I work with our clients to create the best possible solution for owning, leasing, renting and maintaining music instruments and equipment as well as providing consultancy. We have no fixed way of doing things and like to think that our relationships with those we work with are genuine ‘duets’. In recent months, much of our work has involved facilitating performance and teaching remotely.
Why is it important for Duet Group to have an education division?
Education is at the heart of everything we do. Jonathan Thorne, our founder and chief executive, is absolutely dedicated to the arts and arts education. With the Duet Foundation we are able to support music beyond our commercial side, such as sponsoring a Ycat (Young Classical Artists Trust) artist and running the Duet Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Jonathan facilitates an opportunity for young musicians to take part in large-scale orchestral repertoire – 150+ players on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall performing at the highest level.
You have a background in classroom teaching – what was your favourite topic to teach?
At university my main interests were choral music, composition and conducting, and I was director of music in various schools for over 16 years. Performance and composition in the classroom were my main favourites and I am lucky that my role with Duet allows me to access these worlds as a facilitator and supporter. My background – and the fact I have five musical children of my own! – means I am ideally placed to see the challenges faced by music education today. I want to do all I can to ensure it thrives.
What sort of music making do you enjoy outside of the office?
My main musical passion is sacred choral music and I am very lucky to be able to sing as layclerk at Canterbury Cathedral. The Cathedral Choir not only sing the daily services but also tour frequently and make recordings and broadcasts. I also freelance as a conductor, singer and accompanist and run education workshops for choral groups young and old. Community music making is a wonderful thing and Benjamin Britten is a personal hero on all sorts of levels.
How has lockdown affected Duet Group?
Although our working methods have changed and we have all been based at home during the lockdown we have been able to continue to function. Demand for instruments at home has been huge – people are looking to take up instruments and also reconnecting with old skills. Lots of students left their instruments at school or university before lockdown and it has been a particular delight to be able to help support musicians by ensuring continuity in their playing. Our media arm, led by Paul Barton Hodges, has been particularly busy during this period. Live broadcast, streaming, editing, recording solutions and even hosting a virtual conference for the Music Teachers’ Association have been some of the many projects we have got our teeth into to keep the music education agenda high. We have also been working with the Music Education Council to create MusIQ (www.musiq.education) – the ultimate online guide to free music resources on the web including a huge collection of core skills materials for all ages.
What was the inspiration behind the playlists published on your website?
The wellbeing playlists idea came from Jonathan, our chief executive. I sat with Jonathan on FaceTime and he rattled off the initial selection of musical excerpts he had already selected in his head – chosen to encourage mindfulness and to ease the social isolation at these unusual times. These have been popular with our clients and with people across the world – they have educated as well as entertained.
